For Lina Donnard the world has never had borders. Born in Belo Horizonte, she studied in an Italian school. Upon entering the faculty of International Relations, she discovered an immigration program for Quebec. With French ancestry, she now lives in Montreal, a bilingual city where she fell in love with the combination of American influence and European style. In the corporate area and in the university environment, she took on the special mission of being a bridge between Canada and Latin America.
Lina is a consultant in international business and education, also acting as a coach. With the authority of those with professional experience in more than 15 countries, she has no doubt that she has chosen the right destination. “Canada is very welcoming to the immigrant, unlike the US of Trump and the Europe of the populist movements. Here there are great official initiatives to encourage the foreigner”, she says. In December last year, for example, the City of Montreal announced a US$ 24 million plan to integrate immigrants into local life.
All this diversity favors a stimulating business environment that Lina observes as a consultant to QG100, a non-profit organization comprised of the CEOs of Québec’s 100 largest companies with an international presence, to share knowledge and assist in making decisions with global impact. Because she runs both in academic and corporate circles, Lina has also created an NGO. In 2016 and 2017, Mission Abroad took students on an international trip, with visits to the headquarters of major institutions such as the UN, Pentagon, IMF and entities of the European Union.
Making life easier for Brazilian companies and immigrants in Canada
In addition to consulting for the study and opening of new markets, international cooperation projects and immigrant integration in the labor market, Lina has a strong presence in universities. For six years, she was an ambassador to the University of Montreal and gave more than 100 lectures on career guidance. “100% of the people who did academic coaching with me were admitted to universities and 70% of them got scholarships”, she says.
Lina believes that one of her main differentials is the solid trajectory of those who have gone through several stages of the Canadian experience, from adaptation to a new country, to the selective process to enter university and to enter the job market.
The approach to the CCBC was natural and is ancient, since the days when she represented the University of Montreal. One of the most recent activities of the Chamber in which the consultant was present was the launch of the CCBC office in Montreal in November 2018.
